The present invention relates to vehicle parking brakes and in particular to an electronically actuated parking brake for handicapped drivers and custom applications.
Safe and legal motor vehicle operation requires the availability of a parking brake to prevent the vehicle from rolling away when parked on a slope. Generally, parking brakes are applied to rear wheels as either part of the main brake calipers or as small special purpose calipers sharing the same rotor as the main brake calipers, or separate drum type brakes. In each instance, it is common to actuate the parking brakes using a lever or pedal through a cable. Unfortunately, some handicapped drivers can not press a pedal to engage the parking brake. Although electronically actuated parking brake retrofit kits are known, these kits allow the parking brake to be actuated at any time. As a result, the parking brake may be actuated while driving at high speeds causing an accident.
Further, vehicle customizing continues to grow in popularity. In many instances, the customizer prefers to create a simple and sleek appearance. Often, this extends to even the undercarriage of the vehicle. The cables required for parking brake actuation interfere with this goal in some instances and there is a need to minimize the length and/or number of cables running under the car.
Further, many hobbyists work on their cars at home. Their cars are often in varying states of operability, and often can not be moved under their own power. Additionally, many homes have sloped driveways. As a result, a single hobbyist may have great difficulty safely moving an un-operable vehicle, and the vehicle may get away from the hobbyist resulting in damage to the vehicle, nearby structures, and even injury to the hobbyist. Known electrically actuated parking brakes do not address this important problem.